six degrees of separation
by OneshotPrincess
Summary: In a different world, Nohara Rin is determined to help the boy with the murdered clan who refuses to kill, a girl with a demon inside her who reminds Rin too much of herself and an orphan with a plastic smile who just wants to find out why his godfather had to die- and then kill those bastards in return. Role-Reversal AU mednin!Sasuke, Jinchuriki!Sakura and Avenger!Naruto
1. the healer

The first thing Sasuke sees upon waking up is the ceiling fan spinning lazily above his head. He stares, unable to look away until he feels his breath start catching in his throat and his fingers start trembling. He grips the sheets of the bed tightly between his fingers and tries to take in a rasping breath.

His vision starts dimming, the edges going blurry but he still can't look away.

There's a sound to his left, someone saying something, loudly, but Sasuke can't hear either. It just washes over him.

Something dark closes over his eyes and then, mercifully, he loses consciousness.

The next time Sasuke wakes up, it's to a blank ceiling. He blinks a few times before turning on his side and squeezing his eyes shut.

Shisui-nii had once told him that if he ever got captured or woke up someplace unfamiliar, to first assess his body and then his surroundings. He tries doing that now. Ten fingers, ten toes, Sasuke counts, just like they'd done when Izumi-nee-chan's baby sister had been born. Sasuke opens his eyes.

The room he's in has plain white walls, a single bed and a bedside table. He's never been here before but the white railings on his bed give him some idea of where he is.

His eyes fall on the bedside table. There's a covered jug and a glass. Water, he thinks. Water might help. He doesn't think he's particularly thirsty but reaches out to the jug anyway. As he does, he accidentally knocks the glass beside it off the table.

It falls to the ground with a crash. Sasuke looks at the mess for a moment before getting down on his knees. His limbs feel a little shaky but Kaa-san always taught him to clean up after himself. He starts gathering the pieces in the palm of his hand.

"Sasuke?"

He startles, glancing up at the door. There's a woman there who Sasuke has never seen before. Short-cropped brown hair and purple markings on her cheek along with a uniform that means she must work at the hospital.

"Oh shoot," she says before hurriedly kneeling before, taking on of his hands into her own. Sasuke looks down. Oh. He cut himself.

Green chakra gathers at the medic's hand as she presses it to the wound. The cut doesn't seem too deep though and it isn't bleeding much at all. Sasuke's seen deeper cuts and he's seen more…blood…

"Oh," he says, and the medic looks up at him in confusion. "It wasn't a bad dream, was it?"

Her expression falters, twists. She looks like she's in pain. "Oh, Sasuke," she says softly, voice trembling. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke. I'm so very sorry."

"It wasn't a bad dream," Sasuke repeats numbly. "It wasn't…Aniki, he…"

She tugs him forward in an embrace and Sasuke clenches his fists in her dress, burying his face in her shoulder.

And then Sasuke cries. He cries and he cries and he cries.

* * *

Sasuke stays at the hospital for another week during which time the Hokage comes to visit him, asking probing questions and giving gentles reassurances. Sasuke answers as best he can without choking up and tries to believe the Hokage's words. The medic, Nohara Rin he's come to learn, hovers in the background the whole time.

Once he's cleared after the week is up he goes- home. To the Compound.

Except it doesn't feel like home anymore because there's no one there. The silence of the place is deafening. Sasuke keeps turning corners expecting smiling faces and greetings from aunts and uncles. He wakes up in the morning expecting to hear clattering dishes and running water and the smell of breakfast but Kaa-san is dead, Tou-san is dead, they're all dead and Aniki killed them all.

('Become an avenger,' Itachi whispers in his mind, in his dreams. 'Curse me, hate me. Seek me out when you're strong enough.

'Murderer!' Sasuke shouts back. 'Traitor! Why should I listen to you?')

But what other option is there? It isn't fair, it isn't right- and someone should pay for it. It should be made right. Sasuke needs to make it right. But he doesn't know how.

Three weeks into living on his own, of mechanically going to the Academy, then going out to the river and not coming home until nightfall, the doorbell rings and Sasuke gets a visitor.

He blinks up at the figure outside his door. "Nohara-san," he greets uncertainly. His voice feels rough.

"Sasuke-kun," she seems just as uncertain but she smiles at him. "I came to check up on you. May I come in?"

He doesn't want to let her come in but at the same time he does. After a moment's hesitation, he steps aside. She looks around awkwardly inside his house. He wonders what she's looking for.

"Have you," she clears her throat. "Have you had lunch yet?"

He shakes his head.

"Would you like me to make you some?" she offers tentatively. Sasuke shrugs in response. Someone, he doesn't know who, has been leaving groceries for him outside his house. But Sasuke doesn't know how to cook much of anything at all so he's been living on steamed rice and vegetables. Lunch…might be nice.

They relocate to the kitchen and soon the air is filled with familiar sounds- running water, metal against wood, clanking plates. It's almost unbearable.

Sasuke watches as she chops through tomatoes. The skin of the fruit slices open easily, spilling the flesh and seeds inside. So easy, to just tear everything apart, with just a little bit of pressure. He looks on in morbid fascination. But then again…

"Could you fix that?" he asks abruptly. Nohara-san looks over, startled. "I mean," Sasuke licks his lips, "the fruit. Could you heal it? Like you healed my cut?"

Understanding dawns on her. "Ah," she says. "Well no, not exactly. It's a bit different for plants, only the Shodai could move chakra through them. But we can work with animals. One of the first things a med-nin learns to do is bring a fish back to life," she smiles.

Back to life? "You can bring people back to life?"

Nohara-san grimaces. "No Sasuke. Not people. That's…something else entirely."

"But you can heal them," Sasuke insists. "Make them better again." Make them right.

"Yes of course," she answers carefully. "That's my job."

Sasuke remembers his mother's body, bleeding out all over the floor. He imagines putting his hands on her, pushing the blood back in, sealing up the cuts that Itachi had made. Imagines opening her eyes again. Whole.

Nohara-san sets down the meal on the table. He picks up his chopsticks and begins eating while she just picks at her food. A few times she opens her mouth to speak but Sasuke is too absorbed in his own thoughts to notice. They end up finishing in a silence that's not quite comfortable but not awkward either.

Before she leaves, Nohara-san hesitates by the door. "Sasuke," she says seriously. "If you ever need anything, my door's always open. You can ask for me at the hospital reception-"

"Why?" he interrupts, perplexed. "Why do you care?"

She bites her lip in response. "I had a teammate from the Uchiha clan once. He died during the Third War, protecting me. Protecting his precious people, that was his nindo," she smiles sadly. "You're the last of his family now, Sasuke. Obito- he was always there for me. So I'd like to be there for you too."

"I- Thank you," Sasuke says quietly, almost stunned. Nohara-san is nowhere near family but…

She movies her hand forward and for one horrible heartbeat, Sasuke thinks that she'll poke him in the forehead- but no, she ruffles his hair instead.

"Anytime Sasuke," she says. "Anytime."

* * *

It only takes a few more days for Sasuke to come to a decision. He goes to the hospital. The receptionist looks surprised but instructs him to wait when he asks for Nohara Rin. Thirty odd minutes later, she finally comes to meet him.

"Sasuke-kun," she greets him warmly. "Sorry I'm late. I was with a patient. Is there something you need?"

She's wiping her hands on her apron, Sasuke notices. Hands that heal.

"I want to be a medic," he tells her seriously, watches her eyes widen in surprise.

"...Sasuke-kun, you're not even a genin yet," she tells him, as if he doesn't already know. "Shouldn't you wait-?"

"I won't be a killer," he interrupts her fiercely. "I won't." She needs to understand.

"You want to drop out of the Academy?" Nohara-san seems perturbed.

"No, I-I don't know," he falters, thrown off-kilter. He hadn't even thought of that. "It's...not about being a ninja. It's about…I won't be a ninja like him," he shakes his head. "I want to- I want to be a ninja like your teammate. I want to protect people. Please." He's desperate to make her understand. He can't ever stand by as people bleed to death around him. Never again.

His clan was full of fighters but Nohara Rin is the first healer he has ever met. If there'd been less of the former and more of the latter, maybe he'd still have more family now.

There's a long pause. For the first time since they've met, Nohara-san doesn't look nervous or sad when she looks at him. She looks like Tou-san used to sometimes, as though she's sizing Sasuke up. Sasuke clenches his fists, remembers that Tou-san had always found him lacking

"Okay," she says finally. "Let's see if we can't get you started somewhere."

Sasuke sighs in relief and feels like a weight has finally lifted off his shoulders.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm in the process of planning out a long-fic set in this role reversal universe that I'm very excited about. It's mostly going to be about Team Seven bonding, Sasuke having horrible bedside manner and worldbuilding, what fun! This part is sort of like a character study as a warm-up to that fic. Expect Sakura, Naruto, and Rin next!


	2. the jinchuriki

It's the tenth of October, a national holiday, but Sakura hasn't been home since morning. Training, she'd told her parents but that hadn't been true. Rin-sensei always takes this day off to mourn. Instead, she's sitting on an abandoned swing set beside the river as dusk settles in, staring listlessly at the Hokage Mountain and wishing she knew what to think of the fourth stone face looking over the village.

Uzumaki Kushina _. A hero_ , the history books say, but Sakura knows shinobi who look around shiftily at this, as though they don't quite believe it.

 _A mistake_ , grumble the Elders when they oversee her training. _A capable weapon who should have been left at that_ , they whisper when they think Sakura won't notice (which is often. Sakura has long since learnt that she is meant to be seen and not heard and as long as she does that, she can learn so much more).

 _Family,_ her father says, voice sad and rueful, while her mother glances at him with narrowed eyes and thin lips. She doesn't give voice to the disapproval Sakura knows she feels.

 _Kinsmen,_ Rin-sensei offers softly and sincerely _. She knew what it was like to bear the same burden we do, to be a sacrifice._

But that isn't fair, Sakura thinks, kicking up dust as she swings morosely. She never asked to be a sacrifice or a weapon. She thinks, in another life she might have been a tool-maker, a bookkeeper, an artist. In another life, she might have been able to _choose_ , instead of having a choice foisted on her.

She knows Mama resents it too but Papa is always conflicted because Uzumaki Kushina was a beloved cousin and the pride of Uzushio's refugees once, until she'd turned (been forced to turn) Sakura into a sacrifice (a monster).

Household peace is tenuous thing sometimes, especially when the tenth of October draws near so she carefully never mentions the Fourth Hokage in front of her parents. She carefully partitions her time between her mother and father until the storm passes and things return to relative normalcy.

(Because that's just who Sakura is apparently, someone who tries to mold herself to whatever anyone asks of her- a soldier, a student, a daughter- whatever it takes to make people happy to look at her).

But despite the fact that sometimes her house seems fraught with tension drawn tighter than a bowstring, she's… _loved_ at home at least, without fear or resentment. The same usually can't be said about her training or the Academy.

The other students always give her a wide berth- they don't know what she is of course, the Third had forbidden it- but she thinks that they might be able to guess that there is something…not quite right about her.

 _Too perfect, too good,_ they sneer. And she is of course because she isn't meant to be there. She's an asset for the village, to be languishing away in the Academy like an ordinary student. Her training had surpassed the curriculum years ago. But she still attends because of Rin-sensei. She'd argued with the Elders about Sakura learning to make friends her own age, learning stability and teamwork.

( _What kind of Konoha ninja will she be if she doesn't know how to work in a team? To understand why she fights for her village? We must let her form her own bonds! I could never have controlled the Sanbi without mine_ )

Fat load of good that did, Sakura thinks sourly. She doesn't have a single friend in the Academy and she has no idea how to make one. She doesn't understand their games, their manners. They don't understand why she just can't be normal.

There's a noise suddenly, the sound of something getting hit, _hard_. Sakura startles out of her reverie, peering towards the grove of trees near her right. There's an old training ground nearby for genin, she knows but that had been mostly abandoned years ago when civilian housing had crept too close to its borders.

The sound comes up again, a solid _thunk_ , and Sakura gets to her feet, then hesitates. She should investigate- but what if it's a trap? She's an asset to the village, she can't afford to be captured like this. All of a sudden she regrets the decision to sit here all alone when it's dark out.

But it's not like she's helpless, a sullen voice whispers in her mind. She's a very good soldier and one large enough flare of her chakra and she knows the ANBU will come running. Besides, what are the chances that enemy-nin could get this far into the village?

She hears the sound a third time, accompanied by what sounds like a shout from a voice that sounds familiar. Mind made up, she squares her shoulders and heads off into the grove. What she finds is definitely not an enemy-nin.

There's a blond boy, one of her classmates Sakura recognizes, practicing what looks like kata against the old wooden posts which are lined up in order of height _. No-Name Naruto_ , his classroom nickname comes to her automatically and she immediately flushes. That's an unkind thing to call him, even in the privacy of her own mind. Sakura knows how unkind words can be. It's not his fault after all that he doesn't have a last name.

Sakura watches him take a flying leap at the posts- he kicks one, two, three of the posts before faltering before the fourth and landing unsteadily. The first kick was solid, Sakura notes, but he loses finesse far too quickly. Nice to know that even Top-of-the-Class Naruto is bad at some things. A small not-very-nice part of her likes that.

Naruto is among the top students in the Academy, at least practically and his theory is not too shabby either. He trades off those places often with Shino. But slights about his parentage aside, no one really minds Naruto. He has _friends_ , people he skips class and chat with in the back of the class. People he can rope in with his pranks.

Naruto isn't set apart like she is, even though he should be. No one thinks he's too perfect. Maybe it's because they can tell that he's just a normal human and she's (a sacrifice, a monster, a tool)…not.

She watches attentively as he takes up the stance again, the way the positions his arms in front of him and the way he spreads his feet- and with a jolt she realizes that she recognizes his stance, she's definitely seen it before.

Before Naruto can go flying again, she speaks up, "You're doing it wrong."

The boy stumbles at her words- he hadn't noticed her there at all, how inattentive- before swiveling around. He doesn't say anything, just glances at her with wide blue eyes as though he can't believe she's there. All of a sudden Sakura thinks that she shouldn't have interrupted. What had she been thinking? She should have just left him at it.

(You were thinking, a snide voice reminds her, that you could do it better than him.)

She clears her throat awkwardly, before getting into position. In for one ryo, in for the whole pot right? She spreads her feet and brings her hands up, demonstrating the stance that has been drilled into her since she was young to Naruto.

"You start like this," she offers, then leaps at the post. One-two-three-four! She hits all four in rapid succession and lands neatly on the balls of her feet. She turns around with her arms spread, a satisfied grin on her face but Naruto doesn't look very pleased with her. Sakura lowers her eyes against the scrutiny on his face, fights down the disappointment welling up in her. What had she expected anyway?

"Where did you learn that style?" Naruto's voice cuts across the silence of the night and Sakura blinks back up at him.

"Well I-" the answer is almost at her lips before it hits her. Where did _Naruto_ learn that style? It's Uzushio's taijutsu style, it's part of the Uzumaki clan's heritage, of course she knows it. But why does _Naruto_ know it? He's a relatively new student, started attending the Academy just this year. She doesn't know anything else about him though, she realizes. Where he'd been before, why he'd started class just now or how he'd been so _good_ at everything.

"Where did you?" she fires back challengingly, crossing her arms in front of her.

Naruto peers at her for another few seconds before breaking out into a smile. "Okay that's fair," he admits sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean I won't tell if you won't? I guess?"

Sakura blinks back her confusion. "I guess," she hedges uncertainly. A part of her doesn't want to let go so easily, but another part is stunned at the expression Naruto is giving her.

"It was a good move," Naruto says excitably, apparently all irritation foregone. "Hey, think you can show it to me again? I need to get way better at my taijutsu."

What's he talking about? He's the best at it at the Academy by far. Sakura glances back at the posts. She can demonstrate it again, of course she can but-

She eyes the cuts on Naruto's bare forearms, the dirt streaked across his face. He must have been training for a long time now. "It's getting late," she says. "Shouldn't you be getting home?"

"What's the point?" he shrugs, face falling abruptly. He scrapes his feet across the ground. "No one's waiting for me there anyway."

"Oh," She feels kind of bad now. "Well, I mean you still shouldn't overdo it! How long have you been out here anyway?"

"Err well…" He peers up at the sky as though to tell the time and Sakura knows that it has already been far too long. Rin-sensei is very, very careful about breaks between training times. _Your body is your weapon,_ she says.

"Your body is your weapon!" she parrots back hotly. "Take better care of it! You need to get those scrapes looked at!"

"I'll just slap some gauze on it later," he looks absolutely bewildered by her concern _. Slap some gauze on it?_ In her mind's eye she can see a certain dark-haired boy twitching.

"Don't be an idiot," Sakura tells him, striding forward and grabbing his wrist. "Come on, let's get you fixed up."

Naruto stumbles along with her, clearly wondering what the hell was wrong with her. And what is wrong with her? She should have just let him be, it was none of her business. But the way Naruto looked, in a field practicing all by himself, determination pouring from every move. It made her feel…something. He looked so lonely. Naruto has friends, Naruto is popular. But he still looks so _lonely._

(It reminds her a little of herself, maybe. But then again, he has no warm meals at home, no teacher with him at practice, no Elders looking over his shoulder- what on Earth is he training so hard for? )

Plus there is the mystery of the taijutsu style. If he's from Uzushio, Sakura wants to know. She's always loved a good mystery novel.

"I'm not really allowed back in the hospital yet because of the paintball thing-"

"It's fine," Sakura interrupts. "I know a- a friend."

Sasuke's not really a friend. He's way too much of a stick in the mud to be anyone's friend, really. All he cares about are his anatomy books, his weird bugs and plants and his stupid cats. And Sakura can't really help but associate Sasuke with that stupid (horrible) poisoning incident. But friend sounds hell of a lot better than Guy-Who's-My-Teacher's-Other-Apprentice. Or Guy-Who-My-Teacher-Is-Hoping-Will-Be-My-Friend. How pathetic.

"A friend?" Naruto asks and irritation spikes in her at the implied skepticism.

"Yea, a friend," she declares. "Now come on!"

* * *

 **A/N:** This chapter might be a little messy near the end because I have an exam in 3 days and pacing is not my forte. But I wanted to get it up before that :P Still, I hope you guys like it! If you spot any mistakes or anything, don't hesitate to tell me

As always, you guys can come talk to me on tumblr .com


	3. the avenger

When Sakura said that she knew a guy, Naruto hadn't exactly anticipated being dragged into the Uchiha Compound in the middle of the night, alright?

He tries to quell the bad feeling in his gut as he approaches, tries _not_ to think about how this could be the start of every bad horror novel he's ever read- two little kids heading off alone into an abandoned place where dozens of people were brutally murdered? Bad. Idea.

(Pervy Sage would have laughed at that, would have said, _'What chickening out already?'_ Naruto raises his free hand to rub over his chest, the part where it aches. He'd always called Jiraiya's descriptions in his novels cheesy as hell but now he thinks that there's truth to it. Jiraiya aches like a missing limb, like a hole in his heart that's leaking out all his blood.)

Naruto eyes the shadowed streets uneasily as they pass through the gate. The Uchiha clan must have been huge once, he thinks, and his heart twists up even more at the sight of the rows of empty houses with their decaying wood.

Back when he'd been traveling with Jiraiya (and fuck had that been just a year ago? It feels it like a _lifetime_ ago), they'd come across places like this. Ghost towns, devastated by war or famine or whatever. They'd always seemed so wrong, like they didn't belong in this world anymore. The Compound looks like a ghost town right in the middle of the living.

How can Sasuke stand to keep _living_ in a place like this?

"I don't know," Sakura says softly with a grimace. Naruto must have spoken out loud, he realizes. "He just does I guess."

Naruto was going to throw in a few more protests but now…He can't imagine anyone staying here. Sasuke's always been a quiet one in class, kind of inconspicuous. It makes him _really_ curious.

( _People don't come back to places like this kid…because sometimes when you smash something to enough pieces, it's not worth it to put it back together again. Even if they've got nowhere else to go._ )

"Which house does Sasuke live in?" he asks, then winces because okay, he can admit that he's a loud person by nature but in the quiet of the Compound, he sounds extra, extra loud.

"Main House," Sakura replies. "Over by the middle, I think."

"You think?" Naruto repeats, then catches on. "You've never been here before have you?" he accuses hotly.

Sakura flushes, "Well he never actually invites people over, does he?"

Sage, Naruto thinks. He's changed his mind. Forget about Sasuke. They are definitely going to die here.

There's a loud screech to his right and Naruto nearly jumps out of his skin in surprise. Sakura's grip on his wrist tightens as she peers into the darkness. Naruto follows her gaze to a pair of bright yellow eyes.

"Miko!" she exclaims suddenly. "Good kitty! Hey, can you take us to Sasuke please? Pretty please?"

A cat, pitch black with a bushy tail, leaps down from a tiled roof to the street to level Sakura with an unimpressed stare. That's fair. Naruto isn't particularly impressed with Sakura at the moment either.

The cat turns, raising its tail up high, then struts towards the right. Sakura beams at him as if to say 'see? It's all good', then starts dragging him along again.

A really bad horror novel, Naruto looks at the black cat. With stupid protagonists. Somewhere in the afterlife, his godfather _must_ be laughing at him.

* * *

If the entire Uchiha Compound was Creepsville then Sasuke's house was Crazy Square. Or Weird Plaza. Something like that.

They find him sitting on the porch of the biggest house in the Compound. From the expectant look on his face, Naruto can tell that he's been waiting for them. And that's not ominous at all. The cat winds itself around Sasuke's ankles.

He takes one look at Sakura's wordless explanation of shoving Naruto's arm in his face, raises a thin eyebrow to form an expression that looks surprisingly like Miko-the-Cat's, then leads them into the house.

That's where the crazy part starts.

Sasuke's house is _crawling_ with cats. And stuffed with plants. There's a plethora of weird little cacti and succulents lining the hallway to the kitchen and Naruto can see more climbers up the banisters of the staircase. An orange and a tabby cat are lounging on the stairs itself, looking at Naruto with eerie luminescent eyes.

And the kitchen- holy shit the kitchen. Naruto's never really had a home in the stereotypical fashion- he's been moving from motel to motel for as long as he can remember- but he's pretty sure ordinary kitchens aren't supposed to look like a mix between a library and a lab.

"Nice place," Naruto says as he gingerly takes a seat on the scroll-strewn table while their host rummages through the cupboards. Sasuke pauses to give him yet another Look that tells him he's fully aware of what Naruto's really thinking. Beside him, Sakura snickers.

Sasuke retrieves a small container from the cupboard and tosses it to Naruto. "Here," he says. "For cuts like those, this should be pretty effective. Just dab it on."

Unscrewing the top immediately fills the room with a pungent smell. It's not bad exactly, but heavy. Naruto's just dipped his fingers into the cool salve inside when Sakura says, "You're sure that's the right kind right? Not anything poisonous?"

Naruto freezes. Sasuke rolls his eyes. "I don't mix my poisons with my medicine."

"Not anymore, you mean?" her voice is sickly sweet. Naruto gets the feeling that he might be missing out on something. Why'd Sakura even get so desperate to bring him here if she doesn't even seem to _like_ Sasuke all that much?

Sasuke, for his part, doesn't deign her with an answer. "It's safe," he insists instead to Naruto. Naruto nods his head, wonders how the hell he manage to get caught up in this mess when all he'd wanted to do was master a flying kick. He could have been home having ramen right about now.

The salve stings a little as he applies it; he can tell that it's working. He moves to throw it back but Sasuke waves him off. "Keep it," he says. "I've got loads more."

"Wait…" he looks over the messy scrolls on the dining table, the measuring equipment and the mortar and pestle on the counter tops. "You make these yourself?"

"Yea," he nods. "Salves and soldier pills. Poisons too. It's…a hobby."

Looks like a whole lot more than a hobby. Looks like an entire goddamn lifestyle. Sasuke could probably make a killing as an apothecary if he'd lived nearer to the borders. He doesn't say that though. "That's neat!" he says instead, because that's true too and kinder to say. "You know Konoha's the only Hidden Village to specialize in chakra healing the way they do? Most places I've been to make do with herbalism. The Pervy Sage-"

"Pervy Sage?" Sakura cocks her head curiously and Naruto chokes on his own spit. "Who's' that?"

"He's…" Naruto swallows hard. Isn't it astounding? How the burning in his chest can return full-force just the same as the day he'd first gotten the news, after days of waiting, from some faceless ANBU who'd been sent to pick him up and bring him to Konoha. It makes him wonder how he could ever have forgotten, even for a moment that Jiraiya is _gone_. And it makes him feel so, so fucking guilty, for forgetting. "He _was_ my godfather. He's the one who raised me."

"Oh…" now Sakura's voice is subdued too. "Oh…is he…what happened to him?"

That's the thing though, isn't it? He doesn't know, he doesn't fucking know and no one will tell him but he has to find out the who-how-why. What stupid fucking S-rank secret his godfather had to _die_ for-

(Murdered. Jiraiya was murdered. Naruto's never going to forget that part. Died in the line of duty just means that someone fucking killed him and Naruto intends to find out who)

"I-" Naruto starts, then stops. "He- I-" Before he can choke out any more words though, Sasuke cuts him off.

"It's late," he says, pointing towards the door. "You two should get back home."

"Hey!" Sakura complains, "Sasuke, that's rude-"

"No," Naruto pockets the salve and stands up. "He's right. I need to go. I appreciate the help, Sakura. And Sasuke-"

Dark eyes meet his and the hard line of Sasuke's mouth softens a little. Naruto thinks of the Uchiha ghost town and the murders that took place here. Thinks of how he carries Jiraiya's hurt in his heart but Sasuke's still living in it.

He gets it. Sasuke gets it, he thinks.

"Thank you," he says quietly. Sasuke only nods in reply.

* * *

It's only later, while walking towards his own apartment that Naruto thinks he might have finally understood something too. It's quiet. Very, very quiet. But the Main House hadn't been.

Cats breathing and moving in the other rooms and the plants, surely not _all_ of them could be for the salves and poisons. They were just cluttering up the space. Making it less empty, he realizes. More…lived in.

His apartment gets pretty quiet too. A single bedroom and kitchen. No snoring or late night scratches of pen-over-paper. No laughing over bawdy novels or clinking of sake cups. No Jiraiya, just him.

Maybe, Naruto considers, he should get a cat too. Or a cactus. He'd have to ask Sasuke about it. He doesn't think the Uchiha would mind helping out.

* * *

 **A/N:** Guess who's got two thumbs and another exam on Wednesday? This girl! This fic's kind of become my stress relief tbh.

If any of you are confused by Sakura's attitude, most of it is because he kind of views Sasuke as a 'rival' for Rin's attention which is going to come up soon. And more than that, Sasuke's got his own ideals which Sakura kind of grudgingly admires, since most of her life has been spent keeping other people happy with her. So she wants to be his friend but has no idea how to go about it.

Also this was supposed to be a prelude to a long-fic with Sasuke and Team 7 that ends up with them trying to fix the ninja world the way canon Naruto never ended up doing...but I've kind of gotten attached to this. I'm wondering if I should continue this into the whole long-fic? Any suggestions?


	4. the teacher

Rin sometimes likes to categorize her days as 'good' and 'bad' based on how she wakes up. On good days, she wakes up alright. On bad days she wakes up with screams ringing in her ears and tears in her eyes.

It's...a spectrum.

It's a bad habit, of course it is, and she knows it. But she can't help it. It's not really fueled by a belief in fate. It's just...a mental preparation. For the heaviness she knows she'll carry around with her for the rest of her day, how hard she'll have to work to drown out the Sanbi. It's not bad most days but the weight of it's chakra itself sometimes feels too much for her.

(Kushina-sensei, in an uncharacteristic bout of poeticness, had once described it as an ebb and flow. There are days when the emotions ebb and days when they flow and it's all about rowing your boat right.

Even now, that sounds more corny than profound. God, she misses Kushina-sensei.)

Today, Rin thinks as she blinks up at the ceiling, _should_ be a good day. An ebb day. It's the one day off she allows herself each week. She'd collapsed into bed after pulling another late shift at the hospital and she certainly can't remember dreaming about anything. So why did she wake up feeling so apprehensive?

She glances at the clock on her bedside table, then at the table calendar right beside it. Her eyes catch on the red-marked date. Ah, that's right. That's why. The meeting's today. Years of pushing and pushing and today she's finally going to get a verdict.

(Odds have never been good to her but hope is a tenacious thing that she's always clung desperately to. What are the odds that she'd make it this far alive, after all?)

Rin sighs as she sits up, tries to push out all her weariness and apprehension out in one exhale, then stretches. She can hear her spine pop. Time to greet the day.

* * *

Rin hasn't exactly been out of the village in ages. Between being a med-nin and being...an asset, there's not much opportunity or incentive (all the more reason for the village to deny her, she thinks, then abruptly shoves that thought away).

Nevertheless, Rin likes keeping herself in shape, keeping herself busy. She gives herself one day a week to buy her groceries, polish her weapons, train her jutsu and skills with whoever she can wrangle into helping her. She never takes the same day off. Breaks up the monotony, you know?

Today, she's done with shopping for ingredients—groceries on one hand and herbs in the other, always keep your poisons and food separate—and she's considering coaxing Sasuke and Sakura into getting lunch together with her.

An ill-advised and a little underhanded ploy, probably—she knows the two of them could never really refuse her—but a teacher has to try right?

They're both so... _lonely_. Desperately lonely children, except one tries to hide it and one refuses to be hurt again. They could be good for each other, Rin _knows_ they could...if only she could make them see it.

(But people only see things when it's too late, she knows this from experience. They'd learnt so _late_ how to be a team, they'd only really had each other for a moment. She wants better for her kids).

Still engrossed in her thoughts, Rin's footsteps automatically take her near the gates of the Academy, where she has to suddenly stop short at the flash of yellow that darts by her.

Her heart _freezes._

Slowly, she turns around to see a pair of breath-taking, familiar blue eyes peeking out of a building round the corner. They're not focusing on her though, they're off into something farther in the distance. The Academy gates, she realizes.

It could be worse, she thinks faintly as she gazes at him. He could look exactly like Kushina-sensei. That would be worse right?

Indecision claws at her for a moment. She _knows_ he's been here in Konoha, she know _why_ and she _has_ been meaning to talk to him but...

She's been so busy and tired.

No.

She didn't think there was a point when she couldn't tell him who she was

No.

She was being a coward. That's just it. Sasuke and Sakura are familiar-but-not but this boy. This boy is so, so much closer. Inside her, she can feel the Sanbi rearing its head in interest, sensing her inner turmoil. She clamps it down viciously. Now is not the time to go philosophizing with a Tailed Beast.

Rin has never been a coward in her life, she tells herself firmly. She isn't about to start now.

So she takes a deep breath to steel herself, then steps towards the building.

"Hello," she says, softly.

The boy—Naruto—startles at the sound, bristling for a moment before turning his gaze to her.

"Uh, hi?" he asks, voice open and cheery but gaze a little wary. The sight is so familiar, it feels like the breath has been knocked straight out of her. Rin flounders for a moment, trying to find a topic of conversation. Something that isn't _Hi! I'm your dead mother's only surviving student but I'm not really supposed to tell you that so keep it a secret please?_

"Is there...a reason you're out of class early? And...hiding?" she asks him because that's much more reasonable.

Naruto's face immediately turns sheepish, one hand going to the back of his head. "Ahahaha...you're not gonna tell Iruka-sensei, are you?"

"Depends," she pretends to consider, narrowing her eyes, "on the reason."

Naruto narrows his eyes in return. For a moment they simply consider each other. Then he bursts out—

"I'm trying to escape this girl who has a crush on me okay?"

Rin blinks. Well, okay. That's...strange. "Shouldn't boys your age be more into that kind of thing?"

"Yes. No. Maybe, I dunno!" He fails his hands exaggeratedly, before peeking around the building. "It's just—She stalks me! And like, drags me off to train and stuff! She invited me to dinner with her parents! I'm not ready for dinner! She's a menace! A wild, pink menace!"

Rin blinks again. Surely he can't mean…? Oh, she has to find out more about this. Luckily, she thinks she might have an offer he can't ignore.

"Hey, um, kid. You look like you could use some girl advice, and I might be able to help. How about I treat you to some ramen?"

* * *

"Woaaaaaahhh!" Naruto says through a mouthful of ramen. "So you're Sasuke's teacher? Like you taught him all that poison and medicine and stuff? He gave me some, that's so cool!"

Rin has to smile at his enthusiasm. "Yes, I did. Sasuke's been in the med-nin program for a pretty long time."

"And you teach Sakura too? But that's kinda unfair, isn't it? She's not a med-nin. How come she gets special treatment like that?"

"It's not unfair," Rin shakes her head. "It's...just how it is sometimes. Academy students get training from their clan members all the time. I'm not a clan member of course, but I _am_ a family friend. The Academy is mostly supplementary when it comes to clan children."

"Like the Hyuga!" Naruto nods in sudden understanding. "Hinata always fights with a completely different style! Always wondered about that. Sorry," he adds, when he catches Rin looking at him. "I'm kinda new in town I guess? Never really been to a big village like this before."

And oh, how Rin's heart aches for him. This should have been his _home._

"Don't apologize, Naruto," she tells him and, before she can think better of it, reaches out to pat his hair. Naruto freezes beneath her touch before relaxing. For a moment, they don't speak. The only sound is of Naruto hurriedly shoving more ramen into his mouth. Then he wipes his mouth on his sleeve.

"So, uh, Rin-san," he says awkwardly. "Since you're Sakura's teacher and all, would you mind—could you please tell her that I don't feel the same way so _can she please leave me alone please_?"

Rin laughs out loud at that, she can't help herself. Despite listening to Naruto's enthusiastic list of evidence as they walked to Ichiraku's—she corners him after class, she trails him, she asks to train with him!—Rin can't believe that Sakura has a crush on this boy. She knows Sakura doesn't _do_ crushes.

Sakura...only ever really craves _attention._

"I don't think that's it, Naruto-kun," she tells him honestly, trying to find the best way to phrase it. "Sakura-chan. I think she just wants to be your friend. She's interested in you, for some reason."

Naruto groans. "Her interest is troublesome," he pouts. The sight makes something in Rin's chest curl up with fondness.

"I know," Rin replies patiently. "I know it can be, but Sakura...she's always been a bit of a lonely child. As her teacher, you don't know how _happy_ it makes me to hear about her seeking you out."

This whole time, Rin has been pushing Sasuke and Sakura together but the two of them have never seemed to mesh well. Naruto, though. Naruto with his bright smiles and boisterous laughter. He could be just what her other two children need. And...he could need them too.

It's strange, how the three of them seemed to have found each other without Rin's help after all.

"Naruto-kun," she continues seriously. "I know Sakura can be a bit much sometimes. But I would appreciate it if you didn't push her away. It's not always easy being alone."

When Naruto continues frowning at his bowl of ramen, Rin hastily adds, "You don't have to, of course! I mean if—if you feel uncomfortable—"

"No," Naruto interrupts, voice suddenly pensive. "No, it's fine. I think I get what you mean."

Rin's shoulders sag in relief. "Oh. Well, I'm glad. Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"Mm-hmm," Naruto slurps the last of his ramen, not quite meeting her eyes. There's another lull in the conversation. Then suddenly, Naruto perks up again.

"Hey! If you're Sakura's teacher, that must mean you taught her—"

"Yes?" Rin prompts him when he cuts himself off.

Something changes in Naruto's eye. A critical look taking over as he rakes his gaze over her. "Nothing," he shakes his head, standing up and cracking his knuckles. "Never mind. Don't worry Rin-san! Sakura's safe with me!" He puffs out his chest. "I'll see you around, yeah? Hey, maybe you can show me some moves sometime! But I gotta go right now, I promised I'd go bird-watching with Shikamaru today!"

And just like that, he's gone, racing out of the shop. Rin stares out behind him. That was...quite the 180.

Behind her, she can hear Teuchi snort. "Really reminds you of someone, huh?" he asks her with a knowing smile.

Rin turns her gaze to her hands.

"Yes, he really does."

* * *

Rin ends up not looking for Sasuke and Sakura after that. Even they deserve a break from her once a week and Naruto's given her something to think about. Or dream about more accurately. She can almost see it, the four of them. She wants it,so very, very badly. To teach them, to _lead_ them.

(It's a stupid pipe dream but Sasuke and Sakura...teaching them feels like redemption. Feels like setting things right. Maybe it's selfish but Rin's lost everything to this village. She's allowed to be selfish just this once.)

She heads back home to drop off her supplies, then loiters around the memorial stone for a while before finally, finally, it's time for her to visit the Hokage's office.

She enters after knocking, then bows deeply.

"Hokage-sama," she greets softly, politely.

He's the only one in the room, puffing slowly on his pipe, silhouetted by the setting sun. No Danzo, no advisors. Rin's not sure what to make of that.

"Your request," the Sandaime declares through a puff, "has been reviewed. I hope you know, you asked for quite a lot. There was much opposition to your proposal."

Rin straightens her back, her arguments ready, "Hokage-sama," she says, "I know that it's—it's unorthodox but I firmly believe—"

The Sandaime raises a hand. Rin falls silent, heart thumping in her chest. It isn't fair, she thinks. She's allowed to _want._

"Calm yourself," he says. "Your request has been reviewed…" he motions to a file on his desk. "And approved."

Rin almost chokes. 'Hokage-sama?" she asks, fearful and tentative because it's too good, just too good to be true—

(When have things ever gone right for her?)

He motions again, and Rin takes one apprehensive step forward after another until she's finally flipping the file open with trembling hands.

"Hokage-sama…"

"I am choosing to trust you," the Sandaime tells her seriously. "I am choosing to put our brightest embers in your care. To keep the Will of Fire burning. This hasn't been an easy decision for me," and Rin understands the implication, that there has been a political cost to his decision. "So I hope you won't disappoint me."

Rin bows as deeply as she can, file still clutched to her chest. "I understand Hokage-sama! I swear, I won't let you down!"

The Sandaime smiles, tired but sincere and warm.

"Then rise Nohara Rin, and prepare well. You don't have much time until the end of the academic year," he says ruefully, "And Konoha's Genin Team Sevens have a history of being a handful."

* * *

 **A/N:** I LIVE. AND ARRIVE WITH A LACKLUSTER CHAPTER. I'M SORRY!

Life's been pretty busy ngl. Entrance exams and applications and I'm also moving to Japan y'all! For my undergrad! Wish me luck! Other than that, I've recently gotten into a couple of new fandoms, namely Persona 5 and BNHA, so if you like those, check out my fics for them?

I like the idea of a notorious Team Seven curse going around, like the number 10 jersey in football except...not as positive xDD

Finally know, lemme if you spot any typos!

Also what's this? Is Sakura stalking Naruto? Maybe trying to ferret out the secrets of his fighting style? Hmmmm


End file.
